Exemption of packaged software from additional customs duty requires importer declaration and service tax registration.
Exempts packaged software or canned software under Chapter 85 from the additional duty under section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act to the extent equivalent to duty on the portion of value representing consideration for transfer of the right to use such goods; importer must declare the consideration to the Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Customs and be registered under section 69 of the Finance Act read with rule 4 of the Service Tax Rules. "Packaged software or canned software" means software for a variety of users intended for sale off the shelf.

Concessional customs duty for solar power project imports allowed subject to ministry certification and importer undertaking.
Exempts from customs duty in excess of 5% ad valorem specified tariff items of machinery, instruments, control and transmission equipment, auxiliary equipment (including testing and quality control equipment) and components when imported for the initial setting up of a solar power generation project or facility, subject to a Deputy Secretary-level certificate from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and an importer undertaking; misuse triggers liability to pay the differential duty.

Exemption from additional customs duty reduces specified imported goods to a nil standard rate under the notification.
Exempts specified imported goods from the portion of the additional duty of customs leviable under sub section (5) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act that exceeds the amount calculated at the prescribed standard rate. The Table prescribes a nil standard rate for listed categories including certain pre packaged retail goods, specified textile headings with exclusions, goods under 8517 12, goods under 9101 and 9102, and patent and proprietary medicines as subsequently inserted.

Customs exemption for mobile handset parts allows relief from additional customs duty where importers follow concessional manufacture procedures.
Exempts parts, components and accessories for manufacture of mobile handsets, their sub parts, and parts for battery chargers and hands free headphones from the whole of the additional duty of customs under subsection (5) of section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, subject to the condition that importers follow the procedure in the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 1996.

Customs exemption for imported audiovisual and gaming media limited to carrier-medium cost plus freight and insurance.
Imported motion pictures, music and gaming software on specified carrier media are exempt from customs duty, additional duty under section 3(1), and special additional duty under section 3(5) to the extent those duties exceed what would be leviable if the value for section 14(1) purposes were limited to the aggregate of the cost of the carrier medium and the freight and insurance charges incurred for that carrier medium; pre-packaged retail imports are excluded.

Exemption from special countervailing duty on imported electrical energy creates temporary import duty relief until rescission.
The Central Government exempted electrical energy imported under Tariff item 2716 00 00 from the whole of the additional duty of customs (Special CVD) leviable under the Customs Tariff Act, invoking its power under section 25(1) of the Customs Act; the instrument creating that exemption was later rescinded by a subsequent customs notification.

Customs exemption for imported electrical energy allowed, excluding transfers from SEZ to domestic tariff areas.
Exemption from customs duty is granted for imported electrical energy, removing the whole of the customs duty leviable under the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, while explicitly excluding electrical energy removed from a Special Economic Zone to the Domestic Tariff Area or to non processing areas of Special Economic Zones; the instrument was later rescinded by a subsequent notification.

Exemption from special CVD expanded to additional imported goods, subject to existing conditional and procedural requirements.
Inserts new entries into Notification No. 20/2006-Customs to exempt specified imported goods from special CVD (Nil) by adding tariff-specific items-including gold ore for manufacture of gold, goods cross-referenced to Notification No. 21/2002-Customs, carbon black feed stock, wastepaper and paper scrap, geothermal ground source heat pumps, medical/surgical/veterinary goods, and certain project goods-while making each exemption subject to conditions specified under Notification No. 21/2002-Customs and, where applicable, Notification No. 42/96-Customs.

Customs exemption for handset components: imports allowed duty-free subject to concessional import procedure compliance under specified rules.
Provides a Customs duty exemption for parts, components and accessories for the manufacture of mobile handsets, sub-parts for such parts and components, and parts or components for the manufacture of battery chargers, PC connectivity cables and hands-free headphones of such mobile handsets, and exempts them from the whole of the duty under the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and from additional duty under sub-section (1) of section 3 of that Act, subject to the importer following the procedure in the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 1996.

Capital goods exemption updated to list specific electronics components and instruments, maintained under the actual user condition.
Amendment revises the Schedule of Notification No. 25/2002-Customs, substituting and inserting specific table entries to identify capital goods and components exempt for import by the IT and electronics industry, subject to the actual user condition. Substitutions include: at S. No. 2 (column 3) crystals, mounted piezoelectric crystals, oscillators, capacitors, EMI/RFI filters, and LED indicator lamps and display systems; at S. No. 7 (column 2) "Automatic/Semi automatic assembling machine"; at S. No. 11 (column 3) variable resistors, quartz crystals, mounted piezoelectric crystals, PCB assembly; and an insertion at S. No. 41 (column 2) of specified oscilloscopes, frequency counters, spectrum analysers, AC/DC power supplies and LCR bridges.

Customs tariff amendments expand concessional duty entries and conditional exemptions for specified imported goods, affecting medical and industrial inputs.
Amendment revises Notification No. 21/2002-Customs by deferring specified operative dates, adding and omitting tariff serial entries, and adjusting duty rates to create new nil or concessional duty lines for identified agricultural, industrial, medical and infrastructure inputs. It substitutes and removes Table entries, inserts new conditional concessional entries including components for manufacture of specified goods, and alters Annexure conditions by permitting disposal subject to duty on depreciated value with certification and by adding import certification and remittance conditions for exemptions.

Concessional import duty on specified manufacturing inputs expanded by amending eligible tariff headings and item descriptions.
Amendment revises the customs exemption Table to expand eligible inputs for concessional duty on imports for manufacture by substituting and inserting tariff headings and item descriptions, including metal strips/coils, palladium additives and electroplating salt, several chemical inputs (boric acid, mono ethylene glycol, marking foil, liquid paraffin), and a new entry listing plastic/polymer powders, specialty polymers and IC sockets.

Tariff eligibility for capital projects expanded to include monorail, digital headend, mechanized grain handling, and cold chain projects.
The Government amends the customs exemption schedule to add four project categories as eligible under the concessional tariff heading: monorail projects for urban public transport; digital headend projects; mechanized food grain handling systems and pallet racking systems in mandis and warehouses for food grains and sugar; and cold storage, cold room or industrial projects for preservation, storage or processing of agricultural, apiary, horticultural, dairy, poultry, aquatic and marine produce and meat.

Tariff value revisions for brass scrap and poppy seeds adjust import valuation under Customs Act powers.
The Board, under powers conferred by sub section (2) of section 14 of the Customs Act, substitutes the Table in Notification No. 36/2001 Cus (N.T.) with a new Table fixing tariff values per metric tonne for listed goods; most palm and soyabean oil entries remain unchanged while tariff values for brass scrap and poppy seeds are set, thereby establishing the reference import valuation figures for customs purposes.

Domestic industry definition is revised for anti-dumping investigations involving producers connected with exporters, importers, or dumped-article imports.
Anti-dumping duty-domestic industry definition-The anti-dumping rules revise the treatment of domestic producers related to exporters or importers, or themselves importers of the allegedly dumped article. Rather than deeming such producers outside the domestic industry, "domestic industry" may be construed as referring to the remaining producers. The amendment takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Rescission of Customs Notifications: three prior exemptions revoked under section 25(1), with limited retrospective savings.
The Central Government, invoking powers under the Customs Act and citing public interest, rescinds Notifications No. 33/2003-Customs, No. 39/2005-Customs and No. 79/2009-Customs, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such rescission, thereby withdrawing earlier tariff exemption measures published in the Gazette.

Effective duty rate on gold and silver updated, substituting prior notified rates to revise customs tariff treatment.
Amends earlier miscellaneous exemption notifications to revise the effective rate of duty on specified gold and silver entries by substituting higher monetary rates in the tables of the 1994, 2003 and 2004 notifications, thereby altering the duty basis for the enumerated items.

Import of samples as personal baggage: permissible value limit raised by Customs amendment, expanding exempted imports under notification.
Amends the exemption for import of samples as personal baggage by substituting in Notification No. 154/1994-Customs, condition (iv) against S. No. 3, the earlier limit of Rs. 1,00,000 with Rs. 3,00,000, thereby increasing the permissible duty exempt value for samples carried as personal baggage.

Project imports amendment expands eligible projects to include digital cinema, monorail, mechanized grain handling and cold storage.
Amendment to the Project Imports Regulations, 1986 modifies Sr. No. 3E to cover Digital Cinema development projects and Digital head end project, and inserts new eligible entries for monorail projects for urban public transport (sponsored by the concerned state government), mechanized food grain handling and pallet racking systems in mandis and warehouses for food grains and sugar (sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture), and cold storage/cold room and industrial preservation, storage or processing projects for agricultural and allied produce (sponsored by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries).

Exchange rate determination set for specified foreign currencies, fixing conversion rates for import and export valuation.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, exercising powers under section 14 of the Customs Act, prescribes the rate of exchange for specified foreign currencies to be used in converting between foreign currency and Indian rupees for imported and export goods, superseding the prior notification; operative schedules set separate import and export rates, effective from 1st March, 2010, for customs valuation purposes.